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How should I learn English? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| suitbar33 Diglot Newbie China Joined 4711 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC1 | Message 9 of 13 11 June 2012 at 12:26am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks everybody for their meaningful input! This post is nothing but an attempt to
prime myself with the information of how fellow language learners go about their individual progress and hopefully it can keep me busy after exams! Lang-8 is definitely a visit in the future and I would like to write in a more concise and simple-structured fashion with everyone's help! The word of choice can be really a problem...after all, English has the most number of vocabulary than any other languages as it borrows from everything,hehe.... Sometimes it all comes down to my poorly attempted imitation of what native speakers could say in relation to a particular subject matter and I do intentionally avert to avoid thinking in Mandarin and try to switch back in English in my writing... But I suppose I just did not read enough. On the one hand you can have some flowery texts available via the Internet for free-access and I often feel the urge to know them all in both Eng/Chi with dict.cn (a good bilingual online dictionary!), though I know no one can actually understand every word in this day of ever-accelerating era.. On the other hand, there is indeed a fine distinction between colloquial and academic ways of writing and exceptions do exist for some neutral or obscure-meaning words I guess :), as some gentlemen pointed out above....Still I do envy those HD-granted compatriots who to my knowledge indeed defy remedial speculations...(Some claim they never study at home while sipping a cup of coffee on campus...) Again, sorry for troubling everybody with such silly question and I appreciate your generous feedback as always! Many thanks, Chenyang 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| learnvietnamese Diglot Groupie Singapore yourvietnamese.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4940 days ago 98 posts - 132 votes  Speaks: Vietnamese*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 10 of 13 13 June 2012 at 8:15am | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree with suitbar33, if I need to summarize my learning experience with English so far: it's reading, reading, writing, writing, listening, listening, speaking, speaking.
Of course, it depends on which skills you need more so that you can put more emphasis on them than the other skills. I also find your English really good. Keep up the good work. Edited by learnvietnamese on 13 June 2012 at 8:16am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| fiziwig Senior Member United States Joined 4856 days ago 297 posts - 618 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 11 of 13 13 June 2012 at 9:32am | IP Logged | |||||
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I had a boss who would write a memo and then give it to me to edit. My version always used less than half as many words as his and made the point more clearly.
Writing simply is both an art and a science. Begin with the science. Learn the grammar and vocabulary of "Simplified Technical English", a subset of full-blown English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_English From Wikipedia:
Some rules include: Restrict the length of noun clusters to no more than 3 words Restrict sentence length to no more than 20 words (procedural sentences) or 25 words (descriptive sentences) Restrict paragraphs to no more than 6 sentences (in descriptive text) Avoid slang and jargon while allowing for specific terminology ... Use simple verb tenses (past, present, and future) Use active voice Not use present participles or gerunds (unless part of a technical name) ... Also check out "Plain English" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_English The art part is harder to teach. Read Hemmingway. Read Suzanne Collins. Read Mark Twain. Read newspaper articles. Read this study of Hemmingway's style: http://www.neabigread.org/books/farewelltoarms/teachers/hemi ngway_handout03.pdf DO NOT read James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, or James Joyce. Write a sentence. Challenge yourself to say the same thing with half as many words. For example, from your post:
My re-write: I'd like your help in improving my English. I'd attempt to re-write the next part of the sentence, but to be perfectly (and bluntly) honest; I don't understand it! What are you trying to say? What is an "academic thwart"? How does "flanking" (sending the troops around the side of the enemy army) relate to improving your writing? Is it a metaphor? If so, don't use metaphors. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Are you using words to expose something, or hide something? Decorating an idea with flowery words hides it rather than clarifies it. Sweep away the clutter and let the idea shine through. Write to inform, not to impress. And certainly not to create a riddle. I think the sentence I quote above should be at least three sentences, and each sentence probably doesn't need more than 6 to 8 words. Take your sentence and make a Haiku of it. My writing is too complex I must simplify Hemmingway was once challenged to write an entire short story in 6 words. His story: For sale: baby shoes, never used. Think about it. Think about what wasn't said. Such a sad story! It almost makes you want to cry. Six words. "Simplify, simplify!" --Thoreau Don't use a "definition" when you can use a word. Don't say "at this point in time" because that's just a definition of "now". Use "now", not the definition of "now". Don't write "to a greater extent" when you can say "more". Don't write "I propose that we attempt to apply alternative strategies" when you can say "Let's try something different." Keep plugging away at it. It takes more time to write a good short sentence than it does to write a bad long sentence. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| suitbar33 Diglot Newbie China Joined 4711 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC1 | Message 12 of 13 13 June 2012 at 11:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Again, the generous help of Western netizens truly blows me away as I would not expect
the same warm response if such post appears in a major Chinese portal (say, tieba.baidu.com or what have you). As previously mentioned, I would definitely start out using those recommended resources in this post after exams and hopefully make myself more clear in the topics that I may need to address other than language frustration with a steady pace of practice and patience :) Regards as always, Chenyang 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| maydayayday Pentaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5210 days ago 564 posts - 839 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, SpanishB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Persian, Vietnamese Studies: Urdu | Message 13 of 13 14 June 2012 at 6:56am | IP Logged | |||||
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In my opinion "simplified technical English" doesn't work in all situations - and was never designed to.
Plain English was. The website holds a few resources, should anyone be interested. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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